Over a long period of time, the Egyptians built
numerous
temples
along the Nile. Two of the most famous, at
Karnak
and Luxor, are featured in
the IMAX® film Mysteries of Egypt.
These impressive structures, with their huge columned halls and
pylon gateways, were built to honour
the dead and venerate local and national gods.

Temples were places where
the gods and their divine energy could
reside, separated from everything else in the world. According to the
Egyptian
creation
legend, the first temple came into existence on a
mound
of land that rose up from the primeval sea, called
Nun. The first form
of life to appear on that mound was a plant on which the falcon,
Horus, first perched. Another version
of this story describes the
lotus
flower as the first plant on which the sun emerged. Following this,
human beings were created. This moment was called the First Occasion. As
sentient beings, the Egyptians reciprocated by building temples to revere
and nourish the gods.

The design of the first temple was laid down by
the gods, and each successive temple was a copy of the first one. The
design encouraged the gods to bring divine energy into the earth's
plane. Priests worked at the temples,
conducting the daily rituals in honour of the deities and pharaohs to
whom the temples were dedicated.